Startup Founders: Want to Figure Out What Your Target Audience Cares About?

Here’s a clever way to… well… ask them

This post originally appeared in my thought leadership newsletter for founders, Leading Out Loud.

Want to build trust and better understand what your audience cares about?

Ask them what they want to know, then answer.

It’s really that simple. Well, the first part anyway.

Wherever your audience hangs out online, go ahead and prompt them to ask you anything about…

• Your company
• Your industry
• Your product
• Your story as a founder
• A current event related to what you’re building
• A topic that you and your company are passionate about (sustainability, cost savings, improving the hiring process… whatever it is)

If the prompt is related to what you’re building and you’re confident you can talk about it at length, it’s fair game.

Share that prompt where you know you’ll reach your target audience. Maybe it’s on social media. Maybe it’s in an email to all of your company’s current customers and leads. Maybe it’s in an industry group or community you’re a part of. It could be all of the above.

See what people ask, then answer them directly. But don’t stop there. Take it a step further and use the best questions to create new content. On social media, on your company blog, in your newsletter.

Repeat as needed. You’ll build deeper relationships with current and future customers, reduce the chances of spinning your wheels on what to write about, and by extension of your helpful presence as a founder, build trust in your company as a market leader.

Liked reading this? I publish thought leadership and storytelling tips for founders every week in my newsletter, Leading Out Loud. Subscribe here.